LIBRARY 

OF  THE 


U 


iM^^:^k 


ii 


DATE  DUE                          1 

1 

1 

UNIVERSITY  OF  MASSACHUSETTS 
LIBRARY 

LB  I  . 

1569         \"'^^Q 
R8 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Arciijve 

in  2011  with  funding  from 

Boston  Library  Consortium  Member  Libraries 


http://www.archive.org/details/agriculturalprojOOmass 


ON 


RURAL  SCHOOLS 


u 


^ify^j^ 


/Ba"bcock,  E*   B.   Suggestions  for  garden  work  in 
California  schools 

oCockefair,  E.  A»   The  use  of  the  score  card  in 
rural  schools, 

^/Davis,  J.   Practical  training  in  negro  rural 
schools 

^Draper  J  A.  r> .   Shall  we  have  school  super- 
vision in  the  rural  districts? 

'^ Gates,  p.  T*   The  country  school  of  to-morrow 

6  James,  C  C<.  Teaching  of  the  elements  of 
agriculture  in  the  common  schools 
« 

^   Tacfeat,  M.   Elementary  agriculture  and  school 

gardening  at  Winthr op  College,  Rock  Hill,  n.C 

bearing,  S.   Doing  things  in  rural  schools 

^  Ohio  rural  school  agricultural  cluhs .   Direction 
and  report  sheet  for  corn, 

Updegraf f ,  H»   The  improvement  of  the  rural  school 

^/indsor  County  Y.M.C.A*,  YsThite  River  Juncton,  Vt. 
Som.e  conditions  and  needs  among  the  rural 
schools  of  Windsor  County 


«-»««»   -9   4' 


(H  Illinois,  University  hulletin.   Consolidation 
of  country  schools, 

Tassachusetts. board  of  education  bulletins  4  and  6 
Agricultural  x:>roject  study  1918 

"         <♦      "  bibliography 


u:^ 


;  o3 

,  .1 — ) 


<<The  Country  child  is  entitled  to  as  good  an  education  as  the  city 
child."— Kern. 


Going  home  from  school  Winnebago  County,  III.,  February  4,  1902. 
Mercury  12  degrees  below  zero  and  a  stiff  gale  blowing. 


Consolidation  of  country  schools  is  the  solution  of  the  problem  of 
agricultural  education,  and  it  is  the  only  complete  solution  that  has 
been  offered. 


DEC  1 1 1913 

THE    COMMONWEALTH    OF    MASSACHUSETTS^    ,. 
BULLETIN    OF    THE    BOARD    OF    EDUCATION  *'' 

1912,  No.  4  WHOLE  NUMBER*  8 


Agricultural   Project    Study 

Information  and  Suggestions  for  School  Officers  and  Instructors 

as  to  Courses  and  Methods  of  Agricultural  Project 

Study  Approvable  for  State  Aid 


AGRICULTURAL    EDUCATION    SERVICE 

Ford   Building,  15  Ashburton  Place,  Boston,    Massachusetts 

DAVID   SNEDDEN, Commissioner 

,  .         .         .  Deputy  Commissioner 

RUFUS   W.    STIMSON,     ....         .         .        Agent 


THE    COMMONWEALTH    OF    MASSACHUSETTS 
BULLETIN    OF    THE    BOARD    OF    EDUCATION 

1912.  No.  4  WHOLE  NUMBER  8 

Agricultural    Project    Study 

Information  and  Suggestions  for  School  Officers  and  Instructors 

as  to  Courses  and  Methods  of  Agricultural  Project 

Study  Approvable  for  State  Aid 


AGRICULTURAL    EDUCATION    SERVICE 

Ford    Building,   15  Ashburton  Place,  Boston,    Massachusetts 

DAVID    SNEDDEN,  .  .  .  .  .     Commissioner 

,  .  .  .  Deputy  Commissioner 

RUFUS    W.    STIMSON,     .■ Agent 


Approved  by 
The  State  Board  of  Publication 


Peeface 


This  bulletin  is  published  as  a  guide  to  special  agricultural 
instructors  and  other  school  officers  who  are  responsible  for  the 
vocational  courses  of  study  and  methods  of  instruction  in  in- 
dependent agricultural  schools,  and  in  agricultural  departments 
in  selected  high  schools. 

The  "  Report  on  Agricultural  Education,"  submitted  to  the 
Legislature  in  January,  1911,  and  reprinted  in  the  "  Seventy- 
fourth  Annual  Report  of  the  Board  of  Education,"  for  1909-10, 
pages  197-296,  is  believed  to  have  emphasized  sufficiently  the 
necessity  of  productive  farm  work,  under  capable  and  continuous 
school  supervision,  in  cases  where  State  aid  for  vocational  agri- 
cultural education  is  desired. 

The  present  bulletin,  therefore,  is  devoted  mainly  to  agricul- 
tural project  study,  the  distinctively  agricultural  study  bearing 
upon  the  supervised  farm  work  of  the  pupils,  and  outlines  of 
study  and  methods  of  instruction  that  have  the  approval  of  the 
Board  of  Education. 


X 


Contents 


1.  Productive  Work  and  Related  Study, 

2.  Project  Study  suitable  for  Vocational  Agricultural  Schools, 

(1)  Range  and  Progress,         ..... 

(2)  Studies  not  on  Diagram, ..... 

(3)  State  Aid 

Fig.  1.  Diagram  of  Such  Agricultural  School  Project  Study, 

3.  Project   Study   suitable  for   Vocational   Agricultural   Departments   in 

Selected  High  Schools,     . 

(1)  State  Aid 

(2)  Necessary  Groupings, 

Fig.  2.     Diagram  of  Such  Department  Project  Study, 

(3)  Agriculture  First,    .... 

4.  Project  Study  Concentration.     Year  Limits, 

(1)  Pupil 

(2)  Instructor,      ..... 

(3)  Published  Year  Groups,   . 

5.  Project  Study  and  Pupil  Capacity,     . 

(1)  Individual  v.  Class,  .  .  . 

(2)  Varying  Capacity,  .... 

6.  Kinds  of  Project  Knowledge, 

(1)  Rules, 

(2)  Reasoning,      ..... 

(3)  Broader  Results,      .... 

(4)  Typical  for  All  Projects,  . 

(5)  The  Three  R's  of  the  Project  Method, 

7.  Project  Study  Records,      .... 

(1)  Of  Highest  Importance,   . 

(2)  A  Supposed  Project, 

(3)  A  Supposed  Note-book,    . 

Fig.  3.  Diagram  of  Project  Study  Record, 

8.  Apportionment  of  Project  Study,  Time  and  Materials, 

(1)  Diagram  Column  Widths, 

(2)  Faculty  Co-operation, 

(3)  No  PupU  "  held  back,"     . 

(4)  First  Column,  First  in  Fact, 

(5)  High  School  Half-days,  Spring  and  Fall, 

(6)  More  Mature  and  Less  Mature  Minded, 

(7)  Project  Study  v.  Agricultural  Survey, 

Fig.  4.  Diagram  of  Agricultural  Project  Periods  for  Selected 
High  Schools  in  Fall  and  Spring  Terms,        .  .  .  . 

Fig.  5.  Diagram  of  Agricultural  Project  Periods  (Concluded), 
Fig.  6.  Another  Diagram  of  the  Agricultural  Half-day,     . 

(8)  Class  Focus,    .  .  . 

(9)  Individual  Focus,    ........ 

(10)  Prime  Merit  of  this  Apportionment,  .... 

9.  Vegetable  Growing  Project  Study,      ...... 


PAGE 

7 
7 
7 
7 
7 


10.  Small  Fruit  Growing  Project  Study, 

11.  Beekeeping  Project  Study, 

12.  Poultry  Keeping  Project  Study, 

13.  Sheep  and  Goat  Husbandry  Project  Study, 

14.  Swine  Husbandry  Project  Study, 

15.  Ornamental  Planting  Project  Study, 

16.  Third-year  and  Fourth-year  Project  Study, 

17.  Project  Study  v.  Subject  Study, 

-(1)  Subject  Study, 

A.  Organized  Knowledge, 

B.  Deferred  Values,    . 

C.  Agriculture  and  Subject  Study, 

D.  The  Unaided  Farm  Boy, 

E.  Education  in  Forgetting, 

F.  Subject-study  Merits,     . 
(2)  Project  Study, 

A.  Accompanied  by  Subject  Study, 

B.  Organization  of  Common  Sense, 

a.  Induction  and  Application, 

b.  Personal  Economic  Interest  at  Stake, 

c.  Natural  v.  Artificial  Units, 

d.  Project-study  Units  and  Pure  Science  Data, 

e.  Education  in  Remembering, 

f.  Traditions  of  Success  v.  Traditions  of  Defeat, 

18.  Project  Study  Perspective, 

(1)  "Improvement"  and  "Experimental"  Projects  desirable, 

(2)  "Productive"  Projects  fundamental, 

19.  Suggestions  for  the  Agricultural  Instructor, 

(1)  Projects, 

A.  Not  too  small, 

B.  Not  too  big, 

(2)  Project  Clothes, 

(3)  Project  Records, 

A.  Work  Records, 

B.  Study  Records, 

C.  Photographic  Records, 

D.  Certification  Records, 

E.  Project  Bookkeeping, 

(4)  Project  Outlines, 

A.  Ask  Questions, 

B.  Cover  the  Needs  of  Every  Boy, 

C.  Make  OutHne  overlap  Outline, 

D.  Make  Outline  overlap  Text-book, 

E.  Refer  to  Illustrated  Matter,   . 

F.  Make  Outlined  Study  lead  to  Un-outlined, 

G.  Prepare  Outlines  ahead, 

(5)  Approval  and  Co-operation, 

A.  Submit  Outlines  for  Approval, 

B.  Be  prepared  to  meet  Other  Instructors, 

C.  Co-operate  in  Outline  Printing, 

20.  Conclusion,      ....... 


AGRICULTURAL  PROJECT  STUDY 

INFORMATION  AND  SUGGESTIONS  FOR  SCHOOL  OFFICERS 

AND  INSTRUCTORS  AS  TO  COURSES  AND  METHODS 

OF  AGRICULTURAL  PROJECT  STUDY  APPROVABLE 

FOR  STATE  AID 


1.    Productive  Work  and  Related  Study 

The  project  and  part-time  plan  of  vocational  agricultural 
education  embodies  two  distinct  features.  One  is  productive 
farm  work,  supervised  by  a  special  agricultural  instructor,  or 
group  of  agricultural  instructors;  the  other  is  study ■  directly 
related  to  that  productive  work.  Both  are  essential,  and  for 
each  careful  provision  must  be  made. 

Of  the  two,  it  may,  perhaps,  prove  to  be  an  easier  task  for  the 
special  instructor  to  inspire  and  to  direct  competent  agricultural 
production  than  to  amplify  and  organize  the  training  of  his  pupils 
so  as  to  insure  thorough-going  study  directly  bearing  upon  their 
individual  enterprises. 

2.    Project    Study    suitable    for   Vocational    Agricultural 

Schools 

(1)  Range  and  Progress.  —  Beginning  with  the  boy  of  four- 
teen, who  entered  a  vocational  agricultural  school  in  September, 
1911,  we  may  graphically  represent  the  contemplated  progress 
of  his  training  from  year  to  year  by  the  following  diagram.  His 
training  should  make  him  acquainted  with  farm  life  and  affairs 
in  general,  and  especially  well  informed  and  competent  in  the 
particular  fields  covered  by  his  special  projects.  No  boy  is  re- 
quired to  carry  out  projects  in  every  field  here  listed. 

(2)  Studies  not  on  Diagram.  —  Such  subjects  as  agricul- 
tural botary,  agricultural  chemistry,  history,  civics  and  English 
would  occupy  other  portions  of  the  time  of  the  pupils  in  a  regular 
four-years  course. 

(3)  State  Aid  equal  to  one  half  the  cost  of  maintenance  is  now 
available  for  communities  or  districts  which  establish  independent 
agricultural  schools  with  the  approval  of  the  Board  of  Education. 


3.    Project    Study    suitable    for   Vocational    Agricultural 
Departments  in  Selected  High  Schools 

(1)  State  Aid. — The  Massachusetts  Legislature  of  1911 
provided  State  aid,  to  the  amount  of  two  thirds  of  the  special 
agricultural  instructor's  salary,  for  the  maintenance  of  vocational 
agricultural  departments  in  selected  high  schools.  The  project 
method  of  instruction  is  prescribed  for  such  departments. 

(2)  Necessary  Groupings.  —  In  order  to  enable  one  agri- 
cultural instructor  to  direct  the  project  work  and  study  of  each 
of  his  pupils  during  a  full  half  of  the  school  time  through  a  four- 
years  course,  groupings  by  years  and  projects  like  those  in  the 
following  diagram  are  necessary.  Such  groupings  must  hold 
during  the  fall  and  spring  terms.  Certain  other  studies,  like 
those  above  stated  as  open  to  separate  agricultural  school  pupils, 
may  be  taken  during  the  winter,  and  during  the  fall  and  spring 
terms;  but,  if  taken,  must  be  so  timed  as  not  to  interfere  with 
the  agricultural  project  work  and  study. 


School   Years   ending  1912,  1914,   and 
Other  Even  Years 

First  and  Second  Year  Pupils,   One- 
half  School  Time 

School   Years   ending   1914,  1916,  and 
other  Even  Years 

Third  and  Fourth  Year  Pupils,  One- 
half  School  Time 

Agricultural  Science  and  Projects  ap- 
plied to  a  given  community:  — 

Kitchen  Gardening:    Vegetables,  small 
fruits. 

Ornamental  Planting:   Shrubbery,  flow- 
ering plants,  lawns. 

Farm  Shop  Work:   Making  and  repairing 
for  home  and  school  use,  —  hot  beds, 
cold  frames,  etc. 

Agricultural  Science  and  Projects  ap- 
plied to  a  given  community:  — 

Farm  Animals:  Types,  breeding,  manage- 
ment. 

Farm  Buildings :  Sanitation  and  conven- 
iences, plans,  construction,  upkeep. 

Farm  Crops  for  keeping  the  animals, 
rotations,  balancing,  cultivation,  etc. 

Farm  Machines  and  implements,  their 
use  and  repair. 

School  Years   ending  1913,    1915,    and 
Other  Odd  Years 

First  and   Second  Year  Pupils,   One- 
half  School  Time 

School    Years   ending   1915,    1917,    and 
other  Odd  Years 

Third  and  Fourth  Year  Pupils,  One- 
half  School  Time 

Agricultural  Science  and  Projects  ap- 
plied to  a  given  community:  — 

Small  Animals:    Poultry,  sheep,  swine, 
bees,  —  types,  breeding,  management, 
rations,  etc. 

Buildings    anu    Equipment    for    small 
animals,  —  plans,  cost,  etc. 

Home-grown   Crops  for  small  animals, 
kinds,  quantities,  seeds,  soils,  place  in 
farm  crop  rotation,  fertilizing,  tillage, 
harvesting,  storage. 

Farm  Shop  Work  and  other  construction. 

Agricultural  Science  and  Projects  ap- 
plied to  a  given  community:  — 

Fruit  Growing:  Orcharding  and  small 
fruits  not  before  dealt  with,  propaga- 
tion, cultivation,  packing,  etc. 

Market  Gardening:  Markets,  soils,  seeds, 
fertilizers,  tillage. 

Buildings  and  Appliances,  plans,  de- 
vices, implements  and  machines,  — 
cost,  use  and  upkeep. 

Farm  Shop  Work  and  other  construction. 

Fig.  2.  —  Diagram  of  Such  Department  Project  Study 


10 

(3)  Agriculture  First. — The  regulations  governing  these  de- 
partments further  require,  that  when  conflict  is  unavoidable,  or 
when,  as  at  planting  time,  continuous  application  for  a  number 
of  consecutive  days  to  his  projects  becomes  necessary,  all  else 
must  yield  to  the  pupil's  proper  agricultural  instruction,  no  matter 
at  what  cost  for  the  time  being  to  his  other  studies. 

Economic  returns  as  direct  incentives  to  competent  training 
will  be  fundamental  here  as  in  the  training  of  vocational  agri- 
cultural schools. 

If  experience  shows  that  instruction  in  the  departments  should 
be  limited  to  first  and  second  year  projects,  pupils  desirous  of 
third  and  fourth  year  project  training  may  later  be  provided  for 
in  the  separate  or  county  agricultural  schools. 

4.    Project  Study  Concentration.    Year  Limits 

(1)  Pupil.  —  As  shown  by  the  foregoing  diagrams,  the  range 
of  the  boy's  training  is  expected  to  be  somewhat  extensive,  cover- 
ing typical  farm  products  which  are  feasible  for  his  neighborhood. 
It  is  designed,  however,  that  the  training  of  each  year  shall  be 
complete  in  itself;  also,  whatever  other  projects  he  may  undertake 
or  continue  on  his  own  account,  that  the  pupil's  first  duty  in  any 
given  year  shall  be  the  carrying  out  of  certain  projects  selected 
from  the  groups  assigned  to  that  year  for  study. 

(2)  Instructor.  —  Similarly,  while  an  agricultural  instructor 
may  give  advice  and  assistance  privately  to  pupils  who  are  carry- 
ing on  extra  projects,  the  first  duty  of  this  instructor  is  to  the 
particular  groups  of  projects  published  for  any  given  year. 

(3)  Published  Year  Groups.  —  In  short,  upon  the  par- 
ticular project  groups  published  for  treatment  in  any  given  year 
the  attention  of  both  pupils  and  instructors  should  be  concentrated. 

5.  Project  Study  and  Capacity  of  Pupils 
(1)  Individual  v.  Class.  —  Careful  planning  of  the  project 
study  will  be  necessary  on  the  part  of  each  instructor.  The  proj- 
ect method  of  education,  more,  it  is  believed,  than  all  others, 
takes  into  account  the  aptitudes,  requirements  and  accomplish- 
ments of  individual  pupils  as  these  are  revealed  from  hour  to 
hour. 


11 

(2)  Varying  Capacity.  —  Acquaintance  with  pupils  who  enroll 
for  vocational  agricultural  education  reveals  wide  variation 
among  them  in  capacity  for  project  study.  Since  farm  results 
under  the  project  method  must  be  obtained,  not  directly  by  the 
instructor,  but  indirectly  through  the  individual  pupils,  the  in- 
structor's plan  should  provide  for  at  least  an  essential  minimum 
of  accomplishment  on  the  part  of  the  least  capable;  for  a  desirable 
maximum  on  the  part  of  the  most  capable;  and  for  a  large  body 
of  educational  values  to  be  grasped  by  the  greatest  number,  — 
pupils  who  are  neither  the  least  nor  the  most  capable. 

6.    Kinds  of  Project  Knowledge 

There  may  be  distinguished  three  phases  of  instruction  in 
agricultural  projects,  suited  pretty  exactly,  in  their  varying  scope 
and  degrees  of  difficulty,  to  the  three  fairly  distinct  kinds  or 
grades  of  capacity  found  among  the  agricultural  pupils.  An 
analysis  of  project  knowledge  which  shows  these  three  sorts  or 
gradations  will  be  of  direct  assistance  to  the  instructor  in  formu- 
lating his  project  study  program. 

(1)  Rules,  or  plans  and  specifications,  however  simple  in 
outline,  and  whether  on  paper  or  in  the  mind,  are  necessary  for 
the  intelligent  execution  of  any  piece  of  productive  work. 

A  boy  may  become  a  more  or  less  capable  farm  hand  without 
knowledge  in  advance  of  the  enterprise,  as  a  whole,  upon  which 
he  enters.  An  ordinary  laborer  is  capable  of  taking  orders  and 
of  doing  routine  farm  work.  Project  work  under  capable  super- 
vision should  produce  a  skillful  farm  hand,  but  one  who  desired 
hand  training  only  should  hire  out  to  a  progressive  farmer. 

Project  study,  the  other  fundamental  of  the  project  method, 
should  produce  managerial  ability.  Good  headwork  is  required 
for  successful  farming  no  less  than  good  handwork.  Project 
study  in  the  case  of  even  the  least  capable  boy  admitted  to  this 
training  should  result  in  evidence  of  mental  accomplishment. 
A  good  form  of  such  evidence  is  a  record  on  paper  of  the  rules 
by  which  that  boy  proposes  to  be,  or  has  been,  governed  in  the 
execution  of  his  productive  enterprises.  Inability  or  disinclination 
on  the  part  of  any  pupil  to  find  or  formulate  such  rules  is  evi- 
dence of  unfitness  for  this  type  of  training. 


12 

Mastery,  in  short,  of  the  simplest  rules  by  which  the  success  of 
his  productive  work  must  be  determined  should  be  looked  upon 
as  an  essential  minimum  of  accomplishment  on  the  part  of  the 
least  capable  boy  who  is  permitted  to  remain  in  the  class. 

(2)  Reasoning.  —  Beyond  the  precise  rules  necessary  for 
success  in  any  given  project,  there  is  the  reasoning  from  experience, 
or  from  scientific  principles,  which  is  their  justification.  Most 
of  the  members  of  a  class  readily  penetrate  to  this  reasoning;  or, 
at  the  hands  of  a  capable  instructor,  are  penetrated  by  it. 

The  larger  educational  efforts  of  the  instructor  should  be  di- 
rected toward  training  his  boys,  not  merely  in  finding  the  naked 
rules  by  which  their  project  work  must  be  governed,  but  also  in 
discovering  the  practical  experience  or  the  laws  of  nature  which 
lie  back  of  them.  That  is  to  say,  he  should  aim  to  possess  his 
pupils  of  rules,  not  as  "  rules  of  thumb,"  but  as  rules  of  reason. 

Good  farm  management  depends  upon  good  judgment,  upon 
reasoning  power, —  not  on  ability  to  find  good  rules  so  much  as 
on  ability  to  make  them.  In  the  note-books  of  most  of  the  boys, 
therefore,  there  should  be  recorded  the  general  principles  which 
they  have  mastered  and  of  which  their  rules  have  been  but  par- 
ticular applications. 

(3)  Broader  Results.  — The  third  kind  of  project  knowledge 
may  consist  of  informational  materials  of  many  sorts,—  statis- 
tical, comniercial,  geographical,  historical,  scientific,  social  and 
the  like. 

Such  knowledge  cannot  be  looked  upon  as  a  direct  tool  for 
carrying  out  a  project.  It  may  directly  supply  neither  a  rule 
nor  a  reason.  It  may,  nevertheless,  consist  of  many  most  inter- 
esting discoveries,  offer  much  most  excellent  educational  experi- 
ence, and  be  of  such  a  nature  as  to  give  the  young  producer  what 
may  be  termed,  in  the  broader  senses  of  that  expression,  agri- 
cultural horizon. 

Such  knowledge  falls  readily  within  the  grasp  of  the  most 
capable  pupil,  and  may  well  be  considered  for  him  a  most  desirable 
maximum  of  project  knowledge. 

(4)  Typical  for  All  Projects.  — These  three  kinds  of  project 
knowledge  are  typical  for  all  vocational  agricultural  projects  and 
years.     Of  the  three,  the  first  and  second  are  in   the  strictest 


13 

sense  vocational;   the  third  has  obvious  vocational  relations,  but 
may  be  largely  cultural. 
(5)  The  Three  R's  of  the  Project  Method.  —  It  may  not  be 

altogether  amiss  to  declare  at  this  point  in  express  terms  that  in 
these  divisions  of  project  knowledge,  "  Rules,"  "  Reasoning " 
and  "  Broader  Results,"  we  have  the  three  fundamentals,  — 
the  three  R's,  —  of  agricultural  study  by  the  project  method. 

7.    Project  Study  Records 

(1)  Of  Highest  Importance.  —  In  view  of  the  above  discus- 
sion, the  project  study  records  of  the  pupils  become  of  the  highest 
importance.  In  them  we  may  expect  to  find  the  results  of  the 
instructor's  best  efforts  as  both  program  maker  and  teacher. 

(2)  A  Supposed  Project.  —  The  groups  of  projects  published 
for  the  school  year  ending  in  1912  include  kitchen  gardening.  A 
constituent  of  kitchen  gardening  is  vegetable  growing.  Suppose 
that  the  boy's  main  project  is  providing  all,  or  a  part,  of  the  home 
vegetable  supply.  Suppose  a  sub-project  to  be  the  production 
of  lettuce.  Suppose,  finally,  that  we  consider  the  knowledge 
related  to  this  sub-project  to  have  been  assembled  in  a  note- 
book. ^ 

(3)  A  Supposed  Note-book.  —  The  aims  of  the  different 
divisions  of  the  project  study  may  then  be  represented  graphically 
by  the  following  diagram  of  such  a  possible  note-book.  The 
dotted  vertical  line  indicates  the  binding  of  two  note-book  pages 
which  lie  open  and  are  ruled  as  if  a  single  broad  sheet.  Note- 
books so  ruled  are  now  in  successful  use.  The  diagram  is  not  drawn 
to  scale.  The  subject-matter  below  the  headings  is  explanatory 
of  the  several  kinds  of  knowledge  the  pupil  would  find  and 
record. 

1  Note-books  should,  of  course,  be  kept  by  every  pupil;  or,  if  not  kept  in  note-books,  the  record 
of  his  findings  frona  his  project  study  should  be  kept  by  the  pupil  on  cards,  filed  back  of  tab-cards 
bearing  appropriate  project  titles.  The  agent  of  the  Board  of  Education  for  Agricultural  Educa- 
tion will  assist  instructors  in  the  use  of  the  card  method,  if  this  is  preferred  and  his  help  is  desired. 


14 


14  (page) 

(page)  15 

Project:  Kitch 

en  Gardening 

Sub-Project:  Le 

ttuce  Crop 

1 
Rules 

2 
Reas 

oning 

3 
Broader  Results 

Namely,  the  ^'^recise 

Namely,  Evi 

dence  from 

Derived  from 

Plans  and 

Science,  Observation 

and  Experience  that 

More  General 

Specifications  made 

this  Project  as  pla 

nned  is  thoroughly 

Observation  and 

for  this  Project 

understood  and 

can  be  defended 

Study 

Object:  Skill 

Object:  Mana 

gerial  Ability 

Object:  Outlook 

Notes  should  show 

Notes  sho 

uld  show 

Notes  may  show 

The  minimuna 

Knowledge    necess 

ary    for    planning   a 

Acquisition  of  a 

of  knowledge  of 

successful  cropping  s 

ystem  for  vegetables, 

more  extensive  body 

methods, 

—  a  system  in  which 

bhe  lettuce  crop  may 

of  knowledge 

materials, 

have  a  proper  place. 

centering  around 

equipment  and 

Mastery  of  certain 

principles  of  agricul- 

the  lettuce 

operations 

tural  science  which  fi 

nd  some  of  their  best 

plant  and  crop. 

required  for 

illustrations  in  lettuc 

e  growin,g. 

History, 

success  this  year 

Principles  applicab 

le  to  lettuce  growing 

botanical 

on  the  land 

under  varied  conditi 

ons,  but  particularly 

classification, 

selected  for  this 

under  those  which 

promise  success  with 

utilization  and 

project. 

this  project  the  pres 

ent  year. 

the  like. 

What  to  do 

Why's 

Knowledge  in 

First 

and 

itself 

Second,  etc. 

Wherefore's 

Desirable 

Fig.  3.  —  Diagram  of  Project  Study  Record 


8.    Apportionment  of  Project  Study,  Time  and  Materials 

(1)  Diagram  Column  Widths.  —  The  relative  widths  of  the 
above  columns  may  be  considered  indications  of  an  approved 
apportionment  of  time  among  the  three  kinds  of  subject-matter, 
for  the  most  capable  pupil.  The  first  column  represents  the  least 
requirement  any  pupil  should  be  expected  to  meet  in  order  to 
Justify  his  retention  in  the  class.  The  first  and  second  columns 
represent  requirements  most  of  the  pupils  should  be  expected  to 
meet. 

(2)  Faculty  Co-operation.  —  At  least  three  fourths  of  the 
most  capable  pupil's  time  should  be  occupied  by  the  subject- 
matter  of  columns  1  and  2.  Column  3  might  well  be  covered, 
particularly  in  the  later  years  of  the  four-years  course,  by  special 
exercises  given  the  most  capable  pupils  by  other  teachers,  such 
as  teachers  of  botany,  chemistry,  physics,  mathematics,  drawing 
or  English.!  Close  co-operation  between  these  teachers  and ,  the 
agricultural  instructor  should  further  this  end. 

1  For  a  suggestive  diagram  showing  possible  correlation  of  elementary  school  subjects  with 
school  gardening,  see  the  insert  sheet,  opposite  page  294,  of  "Among  School  Gardens,"  by  M. 
Louise  Greene  (Agricultural  Project  Bibliography  Entry  No.  852). 


15 

(3)  No  Pupil  "  held  back."  — In  order  to  direct  the  related 
study  of  his  class  in  the  most  competent  manner,  the  instructor 
must,  of  course,  organize  his  teaching  materials  in  advance  in 
accordance  with  two,  at  least,  of  the  three  divisions  of  knowledge 
above  described.  If  he  can  provide  materials  of  all  three 
kinds,  he  will  have  the  satisfaction  of  knowing  that  the  same 
amount  of  time  may  be  devoted  by  the  entire  class  to  study 
related  to  such  a  sub-project  as  lettuce  production,  and  yet  that 
no  pupil  will  be  "  held  back  "  by  any  other  pupil,  —  a  result 
most  devoutly  to  be  desired  in  all  forms  of  teaching. 

(4)  First  Column,  First  in  Fact.  —  It  should  be  emphasized, 
further,  that  the  first  concern  of  the  least  capable  should  be 
equally  the  first  concern  of  the  more  or  most  capable.  The 
movement  of  project  study  should  begin  at  column  1.  The 
movement  should  be  from  left  to  right,  across  the  field  represented 
by  the  foregoing  "  Project  Study  Record  "  diagram,  —  not,  as 
has  too  often  been  the  case  in  the  study  of  agriculture,  from  right 
to  left. 

(5)  High  School  Half -days,  Spring  and  Fall.  —  Probably 
the  most  difficult  school  schedule  problems  will  be  encountered  in 
the  high  school  vocational  agricultural  departments.  It  will  be 
borne  in  mind  that  half  the  school  time  during  the  fall  and  spring 
terms  is  to  be  spent  on  agricultural  project  work  and  study.  It  is 
desirable  that  this  entire  allowance,  when  spent  away  from,  home, 
shall  be  spent  in  the  room  with,  or  under  the  direct  supervision  of, 
the  agricultural  instructor, 

(6)  More  Mature  and  Less  Mature  Minded.  —  Diagrams 
showing  how  the  less  mature-minded  group  and  the  more  mature 
may  be  worked  to  good  advantage,  during  the  high  school  depart- 
ment strictly  agricultural  half -days,  follow  on  pages  16  and  17.^ 

The  younger  group  is  assigned  to  the  agricultural  instructor 
forenoons.  Parents  of  these  pupils  or  their  other  teachers  will  be 
responsible  for  their  afternoons.  In  these  departments,  where 
the  entire  enrollment  should  not  exceed  20,  the  pupils  may  gen- 
erally be  divided  into  two  groups  of  about  equal  numbers.  Since 
some  of  the  more  mature  have  already  been  attending  high  school, 
and  have  started  on  morning  studies  two  of  which  they  may  desire 

1  These  diagrams  may  be  found  suggestive  in  schedule  making  at  separate  agricultural  schools, 
where  the  project  study  method  is  followed. 


16 


to  continue,  the  older  pupils  have  been  assigned  to  the  agricultural 
instructor  afternoons. 

(7)  Project  Study  v.  Agricultural  Survey.  —  It  will  be 
noticed  that  most  of  each'' half-day,  and,  when  occasion  demands 
it,  the  entire  time,  is  definitely  assigned  to  project  work  or  to 
study  related  thereto.  The  project  work  will  be  continued  during 
the  summer,  with  school  supervision.  The  project  study  will  be 
completed  in  the  fall  and  spring  terms. 


Pebiods  1 

Forenoon  Group:  First  and  Second  Year  Students 

9.00 
to 
9.45 

Agricultural  Survey  (Elementary) :   About  76  Periods 
Object:  General  Study  of  Agriciiltural  Production  and  Rural  Life 

Text-book:  "Beginnings  in  Agriculture,"  by  Mann.  Put  emphasis  on  Soils 
and  Plant  Life  Portions  in  year  for  Horticulture;  on  Animal  Portions 
in  year  for  Animal  Husbandry.  Give  much  attention  to  suggested 
problems. 

Omit  this  agricultural  survey  exercise  whenever  the  entire  forenoon  should  be 
devoted  to  productive  work,  or  to  library,  laboratory  or  other  instruc- 
tion bearing  directly  upon  that  work. 

9.45 
to 

n.i5 

Project  Work  or  Project  Study:   About  SOO  Periods 

Object:   Execution  of  Home  or  School  Productive  Projects  undertaken  by  the 
individual  students,  coupled  with  laboratory,  library  and  other  study 
and  observation  directly  bearing  upon  those  projects. 

Concerted  Attack  by  the  entire  class  on  Plant  Projects  in  even  years  (1912, 
1914,  etc.),  and  on  Animal  Projects  in  odd  years  (1913,  1915,  etc.). 

An  Extra  Project  in  Animal  Husbandry  may  be  undertaken  in  an  even  year 
by  special  arrargement  with  the  instructor;    as,  also,  one  in  Horti- 
cultui-e  in  an  odd  year. 

Reference  Books  and  Bulletins,  including    Agricultural    Laboratory    Manuals, 
will  here  be  consulted  according  to  the  ability  and  needs  of  the  individual 
students. 

Note-books,  carefully  kept,  will  set  in  order  the  ideas  and  plans  derived  from 
this   individual   instruction,   for   guidance   in   carrying  out   individual 
projects. 

Method:    Minimum   of  class  instruction;     maximum  of   personal,   individual 
guidance.    The  instructor  will  go  from  student  to  student,  as  does  the 
teacher  in  shop  work,  laboratory  or  drawing  room. 

n.i5 

to 

12.00 

Project  Work  or  Project  Study  (Continued) 
Class  Discussion  of  Individual  Projects:   About  125  Periods 
Object:  To  subject  individual  ideas  and  plans  to  the  criticism  of  the  entire  class, 
and  thus  to  clarify  principles  and  intensify  impressions. 

Round-up  of  Opinion:    The  value  of  closing  each  forenoon  with  this  class  dis- 
cussion grows  out  of  the  fact  that  though  each  has  been  working  on  his 
particular  project,  all  have  been  working  upon  the  same  sort  of  project, 
at  the  same  time;    as,  for  example,  lettuce  as  a  kitchen  garden  crop.  _  A 
device  for  making  all  acquainted  with  what  each  is  doing,  and  showing 
that  general  rules  must  often  be  modified  in  order  to  meet  local  needs.   A 
means  for  developing  the  managerial  type  of  mind. 

Fig.  4.  —  Diagram  of  Agricultural  Project  Periods  for  Selected  High  Schools  in  Fall 

and  Spring  Terms 


1  Periods  may  be  of  the  same  length  as  those  of  any  particular  school.  Reserve  the  first  for 
the  "Survey,"  the  last  for  the  "  Round-up,"  and  the  body  of  morning  for  individual  instruction. 
Periods  on  projects  in  summer  will  be  determined  by  the  work  undertaken,  and  will  be  covered 
by  daily  time  sheets. 


17 


Periods  i 

Afternoon  Group:  More  Mature  Minded  Students 

1.00 
to 
1.45 

Agricultural  Survey  (Advanced) :  About  76  Periods 

Object:    General  Study  of  Agricultural  Production  and  Rural  Life 

Text-book:  "Elements  of  Agriculture,"  by  Warren.     Vary  emphasis  in  alternate 
years  to  accord  with  subject  matter  of  project  work.     View  local  condi- 
tions in  light  of  text. 

Omit  this  survey  exercise  whenever  the  entire  afternoon  should  be  spent  in 
project  work,  or  in  observation  or  study  directly  related  thereto. 

1.45 
to 
3.15 

Project  Work  or  Project  Study:   About  300  Periods 

Object:    Execution   of   Home   or   School   Productive     Projects,    coupled   with 
library,   laboratory  and  other  study  and  observation  directly  related 
to  those  projects. 

Concerted  Attack  by  the  whole  class  upon  Animal  Projects  in  even  years 
(1914,  1916,  etc.),  and  on  Plant  Projects  in  odd  years  (1915,  1917,  etc.). 

An  Extra  Project  in  Horticulture  may  be  carried  out  by  special   arrange- 
ment with  the  instructor,  in  an  even  year ;  or,  in  Animal  Husbandry, 
in  an  odd  year. 

Reference  Books   and   Bulletins,    including   Agricult\iral    Laboratory    Manuals, 
will  here  be  consulted,  according   to  the  ability  and   needs   of  the  in- 
dividual students. 

Note-books  will  be  carefully  kept,  for  setting  in  order  the  ideas  and  plans  derived 
from  this  individual  instruction  for  guidance  in  executing  the  projects 
undertaken  for  profit  by  the  individual  students. 

Method:  Same  as  in  forenoon  for  first  and  second  year  students. 

3.15 
to 

4.00 

Project  Work  or  Project  Study  {Continued) 

Class  Discussion  of  Individual  Projects:   About  125  Periods 

Same  Purposes  to  be  served  here  as  in  corresponding  period  for  less  mature 
group. 

(See  last  period  of  forenoon.) 

Fig.  5.  —  Diagram  of  Agricultural  Project  fPeriods   for    Selected    High    Schools  — 

Concluded 

1  See  foot-note  on  preceding  page  as  to  length  of  periods  and  number  of  summer  periods.    Same 
rules  to  apply  to  more  mature  as  to  less  mature  students. 


\ 


18 


First 

Agricultural  Survey:  — 

Period 

Single  focus  of  attention  for  the  entire  class,  viz 
or  problem  assigned  the  previous  day. 

.,  the  common  text-book  subject 

Mid- 

Boy A 

Boy  B 

Boy  C 

Boy  D  :    Etc. 

Etc. 

Etc. 

dle 

Individual  A 

3EICULTURAL   PROJECTS. 

1| 

o  ^ 

a>  ffl 

a  ^ 

2^ 

^2 

5 

-^.2 

1 
2. 

C3 
u 

a  a 

^^g 

o-" 

•Cos 

^    fl 

O 

a  ^.2 

^■^ 

^.2 

BJ^ 

^1 

IP 

Pe- 

m o 

-1 

So 

■^  s 

§.2 

reason  the  fina 
ay  is  reserved 

§1 

ft  a 

li 

2 

1 

2g 

riods 

r|| 

0"C    ■ 

£«i 

t1& 

II 

O  o3 

9  1=1 

^  0 

§  O  03 

S  03  ft 

.s  «^ 

g^  3 

x.-^ 

&  o 

H 

< 

H 

[^ 

H 

H 

W 

Last 

Round-up  of  ideas  derived  from  the  individuj 

il  study  of  the  middle  periods. 

Period 

Again,  a  single  focus  of  attention. 

Fig.  6.  —Another  Diagram  of  the  Agricultural  Half -day 


(8)  Class  Focus. — The  horizontal  cleavages  set  off  the  first 
and  last  periods, —  periods  which  have  this  in  common,  that  for 
the  time  being  there  is  in  each  period  some  single  focus  of  attention 
for  the  entire  class.  Here  the  methods  are  those  with  which  all 
are  familiar  in  class  recitations  or  discussions. 

(9)  Individual  Focus.  —The  vertical  cleavages  of  the  middle 
periods  may  serve  both  to  indicate  and  to  emphasize  the  individual 
study  of  each  pupil,  the  careful  and  the  exclusive  attention  given 
to  the  individual  needs  of  each  pupil  by  the  instructor,  the  adapta- 
tion of  general  agricultural  principles  to  the  peculiar  home  farm 
requirements  and  facilities  of  each  particular  boy  in  the  class. 
Here  the  methods  are  those  which  have  their  closest  parallels  in 
customary  school  "  laboratory  "  instruction,  whether  in  drawing 
room,  shop,  library  or  science  laboratory. 

(10)  Prime  Merit  of  this  Apportionment.  —  It  is  one  of  the 
most  important  merits  of  this  project  and  part-time  method  that 
the  instructor  is  thus  able  to  deal  with  the  particular  needs  and 
capacities  of  individual  pupils,  and  at  the  same  time  maintain 
close,  efficient  and  progressive  class  organization  and  control. 


19 


9.    Vegetable  Growing  Project  Study 

We  have  seen  that  vegetable  growing  is  among  the  projects  as- 
signed for  first  or  second  year  study.  The  pupil  brought  up  on 
a  farm  is  likely  to  bring  to  the  class  room  considerable  familiarity 
with  several  kinds  and  varieties  of  vegetables.  It  remains  for 
his  agricultural  instructor  to  amplify  his  knowledge  and  experience 
to  the  fullest  possible  extent. 

Bulletin  No.  5,  1912,  of  the  Board  of  Education,  gives  suggestive 
outlines  for  vegetable  growing,  together  with  a  brief  preliminary 
discussion  of  various  possible  classifications  of  vegetables  and  a 
list  of  vegetables  successfully  grown  in  Massachusetts  home 
gardens.  It  is  therein  stated  that  probably  it  will  be  feasible  in 
most  cases  for  the  pupils  to  undertake  to  grow  eleven  varieties, 
illustrative  of  the  eleven  groups  of  vegetables  which  may  be 
distinguished  from  the  very  practical  point  of  view  of  their  methods 
of  cultivation. 

The  requirements  and  tastes  of  most  families  will  probably  make 
it  easy  to  secure  the  consent  of  parents  to  the  growing  of  this 
number  of  varieties  in  sufficient  quantity  for  the  home  supply. 
In  addition,  as  Bulletin  No.  5  states,  each  pupil  should  be  en- 
couraged to  grow  at  least  one  variety  on  such  a  scale  as  to  provide 
a  surplus  for  sale  as  a  cash  crop. 

The  pupil  may  be  helped  at  will  in  the  actual  work  of  his  vege- 
table growing,  by  members  of  his  family,  by  exchanging  work 
with  fellow  pupils  or  by  hired  labor.  It  is  essential,  however, 
that  he  himself,  with,  of  course,  the  aid  of  his  agricultural  in- 
structor, shall  plan  his  project  and  manage  it;  shall  be  taught 
and  shall  attain  proficiency  in,  every  phase  of  the  actual  work 
of  his  productive  enterprise;  and,  finally,  shall  render  an  ac- 
curate account  of  all  expenditures  and  receipts  in  connection  with 
his  undertaking. 

In  vocational  training  the  economic  aspects  of  the  projects 
carried  out  by  pupils  are  of  the  utmost  importance,  both  as  to 
manipulative  skill  and  as  to  sagacity  in  management.  Work,  use 
of  teams  and  tools  and  such  materials  as  stable  manure,  for  which 
cash  is  not  paid,  should,  therefore,  be  charged  at  fair  valuations 
against  the  projects;  and  all  products,  whether  furnished  the 
family,  given  away  or  sold,  should  be  credited  to  the  projects  at 
current  retail  prices.  The  suggestive  outlines  in  Bulletin  No.  5 
include  questions  on  the  economic  elements  of  project  study. 


20 


10.     Small  Fruit  Growing  Project  Study 

The  best  home  gardens  are  seldom  considered  complete  without 
an  abundant  supply  of  small  fruits,  such  as  blackberries,  rasp- 
berries, gooseberries,  currants  and  strawberries.  Grapes,  also, 
are  sometimes  included.  The  small  fruits  are  often  found  in  the 
same  enclosure  with  the  garden  vegetables.  When  we  add  that 
the  garden  is  generally  most  convenient  if  located  near  the  house, 
and  that  all  of  these  small  fruits,  save  strawberries,  are  tall  or 
moderately  high  growing,  we  have  said  about  all  about  them 
that  can  be  said  in  general  for  assistance  in  garden  planning. 

Farm  boys  are  more  or  less  familiar  with  the  above  facts.  Fol- 
lowing, therefore,  the  making  of  the  preliminary  garden  sketch, 
which  should  show  intention  of  growing  one  or  more  small  fruits, 
the  small  fruit  project  study  will  best  deal  with  individual  varieties, 
and  be  guided  by  outlines  like  those  suggested  for  varieties  of 
vegetables. 

11.    Beekeeping  Project  Study 

Beekeeping  is  an  interesting  and  profitable  side-line  in  well- 
balanced  farming.  It  is  particularly  important  where  any  con- 
siderable attention  is  given  to  fruit  and  vegetable  growing.  It  is, 
therefore,  a  worthy  project  for  first  or  second  year  pupils. 

Every  agricultural  pupil  should  be  taught  the  importance  of 
bees  in  their  relations  to  economic  plants,  and  their  nature  and 
possibilities  as  economic  animals.  So  much  knowledge  will  be 
included  in  the  general  study  of  agriculture,  by  both  the  younger 
and  the  older  pupils,  during  periods  set  apart  in  the  foregoing 
diagrams,  Figures  4  and  5,  under  the  designation  "  Agricultural 
Survey." 

Every  vocational  agricultural  school  and  department  should 
own,  work  with  or  have  access  to  at  least  one  hive  of  bees.  Un- 
doubtedly certain -pupils  will  desire  to  conduct  beekeeping  proj- 
ects. Project  study  outlines  should  be  prepared  for  them,  and 
should  cover  at  least  two  of  the  three  kinds  of  project  knowledge 
before  discussed. 

Since  pupils  are  not  to  be  required  to  conduct  projects  in  every 
field  covered  by  the  published  course  of  training,  beekeeping  may 
be  looked  upon  as  one  kind  of  project  from  which,  at  their  desire, 
or  at  the  discretion  of  the  instructor,  pupils  may  be  held  exempt. 


21 


12.    Poultry  Keeping  Project  Study 

The  study  of  poultry  keeping  has  been  pretty  fully  discussed  as 
to  ways  and  means,  and  its  desirability  and  feasibility  have  been 
set  forth  with  considerable  detail  in  a  previous  report.^  It  may 
safely  be  urged  that  every  pupil  should  be  permitted,  and  even 
required,  to  conduct  a  poultry  project. 

Project  study  outlines  of  the  sort  suggested  for  vegetable  grow- 
ing will  be  just  as  necessary  here  as  elsewhere  for  the  proper 
guidance  of  the  poultry  project  pupils. 

13.    Sheep  and  Goat  Husbandry  Project  Study 

Sheep  and  goats  in  some  localities  are  matters  of  keen  interest 
and  economic  importance;  in  other  localities  they  are  not. 

As  to  general  knowledge  and  possible  exemptions,  what  was 
said  of  beekeeping  should  apply  equally  here.  Projects  should  be 
permitted  when  strongly  desired;  and,  when  permitted,  properly 
guided  by  appropriate  project  study  outlines;  they  should  not 
be  required. 

14.    Swine  Husbandry  Project  Study 

Swine  husbandry  should,  probably,  in  most  cases,  be  ranked  as 
nearly  equal  in  importance  to  poultry  keeping,  —  perhaps  midway 
as  school  projects  between  poultry  keeping  and  beekeeping. 
Projects  in  this  field  should  be  optional  with  the  individual  pupils. 
Some  knowledge  of  swine  husbandry  will  be  had  through  the  agri- 
cultural survey  study  and  its  attendant  trips  for  observation. 

Where  the  home  farm  conditions  are  at  all  favorable,  swine 
projects  should  be  urged,  and  outlines  for  their  proper  study 
provided. 

15.     Ornamental  Planting  Project  Study 

Few  good  farmers  are  entirely  heedless  of  the  attractive  ap- 
pearance of  their  farm  property  as  farm  homes.  Some  attention 
should  be  given  by  every  agricultural  pupil  to  such  ornamental 
planting  as  is  appropriate  under  reasonably  thrifty  farm  home 
conditions.  During  at  least,  one  year  of  his  course,  along  with 
his  utility  projects,  every  boy  should  carry  a  project  devoted  to 

1  Board  of  Education  (Mass.),  seventy-fourth,  annual  report,  for  1909-10,  pp.  236-240;  also 
"National  Society  for  the  Study  of  Education,"  eleventh  yearbook,  Part  II.,  pp.  38-40. 


22 


the  beautifying,  in  at  least  some  slight  measure,  his  home  sur- 
roundings,^ 

Some  study  will  have  been  given  farm  home  attractiveness  dur_ 
ing  the  periods  devoted  to  the  "  agricultural  survey."  Good 
home  project  work,  however,  will  be  as  dependent  here,  as  else- 
where, upon  project  study  outlines  carefully  adapted  to  each 
pupil's  home  conditions. 


16.    Third-year  and  Fourth-year  Project  Study 

The  project  study  method  is  identical  for  all  years.  When, 
therefore,  pupils  now  beginning  vocational  agricultural  training 
have  progressed  so  far  in  the  course  as  to  be  prepared  for  it,  third- 

'  List  of  ornamental  plants  successfully  used  at  Smith's  Agricultural  School,  Northampton, 

Mass. :  — 

Annuah 


Marigolds  (African). 

Marigolds  (French). 

Zinnias. 

Nasturtiums. 

Calliopsis. 

Candytuft. 

Salpiglossis. 


Berberis  Thunbergii,  Japanese  barberry. 
Cornus  Siberica,  Red-twigged  dogwood. 
Forsythia  suspensa,  Yellow  bells. 
Ligustrum  Regeianum,  Kegel's  privet. 
Lonicera  Morrowi,  Morrow's  honeysuckle. 
Lonicera  tartarica,  Tartarian  honeysuckle. 
Philadelphus  coronarius,  Syringa. 
Pyrus  Japonica,  Japanese  quince. 
Rhus  typhina,  Staghorn  sumach. 
Rhus  glabra,  Smooth  sumach. 


Centaurea. 

Eschscholtzia  (California  Poppy). 

Mignonette. 

Asters  (Semple's  Branching). 

Pqrtulaca. 

Nicotiana. 


Shrubs 


Ribes  aureum,  Yellow  currant. 

Rosa  rujjosa,  Japanese  rose. 

Sambucus  Canadensis,  elderberry. 

Spirea  Von  Houtei. 

Spirea  Thunbergii. 

Spirea  callosa. 

Physocarpus  opulifolius,  Ninebark. 

Syringa  vulgaris.  Lilac. 

Viburnum  opulus,  High-bush  cranberry. 

Aralia  spinosa,  Hercules  club. 


Hard  wood :  — 
Spirea  Von  Houtei. 
Spirea  Thunbergii. 
Syringa  vulgaris.  Lilac. 
Privets. 
Forsythia. 
Philadelphus    coronarius,     Syringa    or    Mock 

Orange. 


For  Cuttings 

Rhus  typhina,  and  glabra. 


Green:  — 
Geraniums. 
Salvia. 

Rex  begonias,  for  leaf  cuttings. 
Cannas,  tuber  cuttings. 


Herbs 
Dill,  Thyme,  Lavender,  etc. 

Vines 

Cinnamon,  Virginia  Creeper,  Ampelopsis  tricuspida. 


Bulbs 


Indoor  forcing  and  outdoor  use :  ■ 
Narcissus. 


Tulip. 
Hyacinth. 


Miss  S.  M.  Weed,  instructor  in  ornamental  planting  at  the  Northampton  School  since  1908, 
makes  the  following  observations  regarding  the  above  lists  :  — 

"Any  of  the  flowering  plants  listed  are  easily  grown  at  home._  Choice  and  range  of  plants  for 
home  gardening  depend  entirely  upon  the  resources  of  individual  pupils,  — •  amount  of  land 
available,  location,  nature  of  soil,  etc.  An  assortment  of  from  six  to  ten  varieties  is  about  the 
number  most  profitably  cared  for  by  the  majority,  but,  as  I  have  stated,  this  number  varies 
greatly. 

"As  an  incentive  to  home  work  might  be  mentioned  starting  plants  at  school,  to  be  taken  home 
for  use  later.  Asters,  cosmos  and  pansies  are  good  plants  to  use  in  this  way.  It  is  also  an  ad- 
vantage to  have  on  hand  seeds  of  standard  quality  and  kind  which  pupils  may  buy  from  the 
school,  thus  insuring  the  use  of  good  seed." 


23 

year  and  fourth-year  project  study  should  be  provided  for  in  the 
manner  above  indicated.  Project-study  outHnes  for  fruit  grow- 
ing, including  orcharding,  should  be  drawn;  outlines,  also,  for 
the  handling  of  certain  vegetables  from  the  market  gardener's 
point  of  view,  and  for  dealing  with  the  serious  problems  of  dairy- 
ing. 

Every  advantage  in  this  outline  making  should  be  taken  of  the 
opportunities  thus  afforded  for  the  thorough  reviewing  of  the 
basal  principles  of  plant  production  and  animal  management 
already  dealt  with  in  the  project  instruction  of  the  two  previous 
years.  This  reviewing  should  insure  a  consistent  and  closely 
knit  body  of  knowledge  supported  by  the  practical  applications 
of  that  knowledge.  It  should,  also,  make  it  possible  for  an  older 
boy  who  has  had  good  farm  experience  to  enter  the  course  to 
advantage  at  the  beginning  of  the  third  or  even  of  the  fourth 
year. 

The  field  of  study  one  year,  here,  as  earlier  in  the  course,  should 
be  restricted  to  and  concentrated  upon  plant  projects;  and  the 
other  year,  centered  upon  animal  projects. 

The  method  of  procedure  is  believed  to  have  been  elucidated 
with  sufficient  clearness  in  the  foregoing  discussion  and  in  Bulletin 
No.  5,  1912,  containing  suggestive  project  study  outlines  for 
vegetable  growing,  so  that  its  application  to  third-year  and  fourth- 
year  project  study  need  not  at  this  point  be  further  elaborated. 

17.    Project  Study  v.  Subject  Study 

Critics,  familiar  with  the  curricula  and  methods  of  teaching 
common  to  most  public  schools  of  secondary  grade,  have  re- 
marked a  radical  difference  of  method  between  subject  teaching 
and  teaching  by  projects.  Fear  has  occasionally  been  expressed 
that  the  project  innovation  in  educational  methods  may,  apart 
from  the  skill  it  gives,  result  in  putting  the  pupil  in  possession 
of  merely  a  more  or  less  incoherent  collection  of  knowledge  frag- 
ments. 

(1)  Subject  Study.  A.  Organized  Knowledge. — Subject 
study,  it  is  urged,  puts  the  pupil  in  possession  of  coherent  bodies  of 
organized  knowledge.  Subject  study,  moreover,  it  is  pointed  out, 
so  far,  at  least,  as  it  is  of  the  more  modern  type,  takes  into  account 
the  environment  of  the  pupil;   and  the  practical  bearings  of  his 


24 


education,  so  far  as  it  has  any,  are  thus  made  plain  to  his  under- 
standing. Subject  study  stops  short  at  this  point.  For  apphed 
knowledge  as  such  it  recognizes  no  responsibility. 

B.  Deferred  Values.  — Having  been  schooled  in  terminology 
and  principles,  also  in  orderly  and  efficient  habits  of  reasoning, 
and  having  been  led  to  make  certain  laboratory  and  other  observa- 
tions as  to  the  applications  of  principles  in  the  work-a-day  world, 
the  pupil  must  then  be  trusted  to  develop  efficiency  on  his  own 
account  in  one  or  another  field  of  applied  knowledge.  The  prin- 
cipal values  properly  to  be  expected  from  subject  study,  therefore, 
have  been  termed  "  deferred  values." 

C.  Agriculture  and  Subject  Study.  —  Agriculture  has 
generally  been  taught  by  the  subject  method.  ^  A  part  of  the 
farm  boy's  year,  usually  the  summer,  has  been  spent  on  his  home 
farm;  another  part  of  the  year,  usually  the  winter,  or  the  months 
of  the  customary  school  year,  has  been  spent,  in  most  cases  at  a 
considerable  distance  from  his  home  farm,  at  the  agricultural 
school  or  college.  In  the  former,  his  attention  has  been  devoted 
to  productive  agriculture;  in  the  latter,  to  agriculture  as  more  or 
less  divided  bodies  of  organized  knowledge. 

D.  The  Unaided  Farm.  Boy. — To  the  farm  boy  himself, 
alone  and  unaided  by  the  supervision  of  his  agricultural  instructors, 
has  been  left  the  educational  task,  well-nigh  impossible,  under  such 
circumstances,  of  bringing  these  elements  of  his  experience  —  one 
concrete,  the  other  abstract  —  into  efficient  relations,  whether 
for  purposes  of  intelligent  understanding  or  for  purposes  of  eco- 
nomic returns,  with  the  result  that  the  anticipated  values  of  such 
subject  study  have  too  often  been  deferred  indefinitely. 

E.  Education  in  Forgetting.  Judging  from  the  experience 
of  many  pupils,  and  among  the  number  not  a  few  who  have  gone 
on  to  college,  much  secondary  education  by  the  subject  method 
might  justly  enough  be   called   "  education  in  forgetting."     In 

1  Following  is  the  list  of  subjects  found  in  the  undergraduate  course  of  training  prescribed, 
by  one  of  the  most  prominent  agricultural  colleges,  for  prospective  teachers  of  agriculture.  With 
the  subjects  are  given  the  hours  required  for  each.  The  significance  of  this  list  is  found  in  the 
tendency  for  beginners  in  teaching  to  be  imitative,  to  try  to  teach  by  the  very  same  methods 
by  which  they  themselves  have  been  taught. 


Agronomy,   . 
Animal  husbandry. 
Dairy  husbandry. 
Horticulture, 


15J 


Secondary  school  agriculture,    6 


Thermatology, 
Botany, 
Chemistry, 
Entomology,    . 
Zoology,  . 


2i 

English,      . 

.    4 

6 

Rhetoric,    . 

.    9 

15 

Economics, 

.    2 

2§ 

Education, 

.    8 

5 

Librarj'  science. 

.     2 

25 

fact,  it  has  sometimes  been  argued  that  the  educational  process, 
as  a  process,  as  a  means  of  developing  mental  alertness,  acuteness 
and  power,  is  the  main  concern  of  the  subject-study  method; 
that  the  forgetting  is  to  be  expected,  is  not  to  be  too  much  deplored. 

The  structure  and  habits  of  the  human  mind  and  brain  are  such 
that,  following  the  psychological  laws  of  segmentation,  unused 
knowledge  tends  to  be  "  forgotten."  Much,  a  vast  deal,  of  the 
subject-matter  turned  over  and  otherwise  dealt  with  by  the  subject- 
study  method  is-  of  such  a  nature  that  in  out-of-school  hours  and 
in  after-school  years  it  remains  unused.  To  the  extent  that  it 
remains  unused,  its  forgetting,  save  by  minds  supported  by  the 
most  unusual  brain  substance,  is  inevitable.  Whether  to  be 
deplored,  therefore,  or  not,  it  has  over  and  over  again  been  ob- 
served, that  examinations  once  passed  and  the  school  year  ended, 
subjects  are  forgotten. 

F.  Subject-study  Merits.  —  For  the  training  of  the  so-called 
"  abstract-minded  "  boy,  of  the  boy  naturally  gifted  with  a  re- 
tentive cerebral  organism,  and  of  the  boy  who  is  to  follow  a  pro- 
fessional as  distinguished  from  a  productive  career,  the  subject- 
study  method  must  be  conceded  appreciable  merits;  and  these 
merits  become  the  more  pronounced  and  permanent  in  proportion 
as  the  method,  in  its  dealing  with  materials  and  principles,  is 
strongly  inductive. 

(2)  Project  Study.  A.  Accompanied  by  Subject  Study. 
—  Merits  conceded  subject  study,  however,  are  not  to  be  sub- 
tracted from  the  total  merits  of  vocational  education.  The 
training  of  the  boy  who  desires  a  vocational  agricultural  diploma 
includes,  as  we  have  seen,  the  subject  study  of  English,  history, 
civics,  botany,  chemistry  and  general  agricultural .  subjects,  such 
as  soils,  tillage  and  crop  rotation.  That  this  subject  study  does 
not  precede  but  accompanies  or  follows  the  boy's  project  study, 
directly  and  decidedly  enhances  its  value. 

B.  Organization  of  Comnion  Sense,  a.  Induction  and 
Application.,; —  But  project  study  has  merits  peculiarly  its  own. 
No  more  diligent  or  effective  application  of  the  inductive  method 
in  education  has  ever  been  witnessed  than  that  proposed,  and  in 
good  measure  already  practiced,  by  the  project  study  of  agri- 
culture. The  educational  cycle  is  not  left  open,  but  is  here  com- 
pleted.    The    movement,    from    observed    data    of    agricultural 


26 

production  to  general  laws  and  principles,  is  followed  by  the  reverse 
movement,  which  is  embodied  in  the  application  of  the  laws  and 
principles  of  science,  embodied,  that  is  to  say,  in  economic  agri- 
cultural enterprises  conducted  by  the  pupils  on  their  home  farms 
under  competent  school  supervision. 

b.  Personal  Economic  Interest  at  Stake.  —  Mr.  Huxley's 
favorite  dennition  of  science  is  understood  to  have  been  "  organized 
common  sense."  The  project-study  method  consists,  not  so  much 
of  the  conning  of  "  science  "  already  organized  and  brought  to  the 
boys  in  books,  as  it  consists  of  the  actual  organization  anew  of  the 
common  sense  required  for  successfully  controlling  the  personal 
affairs  and  economic  fortunes  of  the  pupils  themselves.  The 
"  career  motive  "  is  here  dominant,  inspiring,  compelling.  Upon  the 
organization  of  common  sense  is  put  a  strong,  personal  premium. 

c.  Natural  v.  Artificial  Units.  — ^The  units  of  project  study 
are  not  the  units  of  another  man's  career  nor  of  another  man's 
book.  They  may,  nevertheless,  consist  of  findings  from  many 
sources,  including  picked  careers  and  selected  books. 

Olericulture  may  be  made  a  subject  study:  so,  also,  may  chem- 
istry. Rarely,  however,  does  the  subject  study  of  chemistry, 
for  example,  include  all  of  chemistry.     The  limits  set  are  arbitrary. 

The  lettuce  crop  to  be  produced  by  the  pupil  in  a  given  year 
is  a  project-study  unit.  As  such  it  requires  mastery  of  certain 
portions  of  both  olericulture  and  chemistry.  The  requirements 
for  producing  the  crop  under  the  known  home  conditions  mark  the 
limits  of  this  unit.  These  limits  are  not  artificial;  they  are  natural. 
The  kinds  of  knowledge  to  be  gained  have  been  indicated  above 
by  the  suggested  contents  of  the  boy's  project-study  record.  The 
boy's  knowledge  may  be  complete  for  its  purpose,  —  an  organized 
unit,  a  body  well  articulated  and  thoroughly  comprehended. 

The  project  method  deals  with  natural  units.  By  this  method 
the  boy's  common  sense  is  focused,  clarified  and  put  directly  to 
important  economic  tests. 

d.  Project-study  Units  and  Pure  Science  Data.  —  Project 
study,  moreover,  will  probably  prove  to  be  one  of  the  most  effective 
means  of  accumulating  first-hand  data  for  the  successful  study 
of  science  as  science.  The  lettuce  plant,  for  example,  thrives  best 
in  almost  any  garden  soil  when  fed  freely  one  particular  kind  of 
plant  food,  namely,  nitrogen.     The  pupil  must,  therefore,  know 


27 

this  raw  material  of  chemistry,  not  at  the  outset  in  its  every  form 
and  use,  but  in  the  special  form  best  suited  to  the  needs  of  the 
lettuce  plant.  He  may  learn  to  think  and  speak  of  it  by  the 
symbol  the  chemist  has  assigned  it.  That  symbol  will,  then, 
have  been  learned  once  for  all.  Later,  in  other  project  study, 
he  will  learn  more  about  nitrogen  in  its  relations  to  productive 
agriculture.  One  by  one,  if  wisely  taught,  he  will  similarly  come 
to  know  other  elements  of  plant  or  animal  food,  together  with 
their  symbols.  He  will  come  to  know  them  in  an  intimate,  per- 
sonal way,  by  name  and  symbol,  by  appearance  and  action.  All 
this  will  surely  be  gain,  and  not  loss,  if  later  the  boy  has  opportunity 
for  studying  these  chemicals  in  their  more  general  relations. 

e.  Education  in  Remembering.  —The  knowledge  which  is 
the  boy's  quest  in  project  study  is  knowledge  of  which  he  sees  the 
need.  Being  needed  year  by  year,  it  will,  j^ear  by  year,  be  re- 
called. Used  again  and  again,  added  to,  modified  and  exactly 
applied,  it  will  tend  to  be  distinctly  remembered. 

If  unused  knowledge  tends  to  be  forgotten,  the  converse  is  most 
emphatically  true.  Used  knowledge  tends  to  be  remembered. 
The  primary  pursuit  of  project  study  as  the  accompaniment  of 
project  work  is  the  organization  of  definite  and  coherent  bodies 
of  knowledge  which  the  recurrent  seasons  will  naturally  and  of 
necessity  call  into  use.  Forgetting  here  is  a  hindrance.  If  it 
occurs,  it  is  not  a  virtue  but  a  fault. 

In  short,  the  organization  of  common  sense  by  the  project-study 
method  is  not  education  in  forgetting;  it  is  education  in  remember- 
ing. 

f .  Traditions  of  Success  v.  Traditions  of  Defeat.  —  Edu- 
cators and  public-spirited  people  in  general  are  gravely  concerned 
over  the  yearlj^  exodus  from  school  of  the  army  of  children  whose 
schooling  is  halted  the  moment  the  fourteenth  birthday  is  reached. 
But  why  should  they  not  go  out  ? 

In  a  vast  proportion  of  cases  their  lot  in  school  has  been  far 
from  happy.  The  "  booldsh  "  boy  has  been,  and  may  always  be, 
the  exception  and  not  the  rule.  Taught  by  one  sort  or  another  of 
subject-study  method,  and  failing  to  see,  much  less  to  feel,  direct 
relationship  between  what  they  have  studied  and  what  they  are 
likely  to  be  and  do  in  life,  too  many  have  "  failed  in  their  studies." 
Their  school  traditions  have  been  traditions  of  defeat. 


28 

If  anything  can  efface  the  depressing  memory  of  such  traditions, 
by  estabHshing  traditions  of  school  success,  it  is  beheved  that  the 
project  method  of  vocational  education  can  do  it.  And  probably 
no  field  for  this  is  more  favorable  than  that  of  agriculture. 

Boys,  especially  farm  boys,  like  the  open.  'They  are  curious 
about  plants  and  animals.  They  readily  come  to  know  them. 
They  like  to  possess  them.  When  school  begins  in  the  open  and 
ends  there;  when  in  the  schoolroom  are  found  undreamed-of 
guide  books  to  more  wonderful  and  intimate  understanding  of  the 
already  familiar  objects  of  the  open;  most  of  all,  when  the  school 
teacher  meets  the  boy  where  his  interest  is  keenest,  and  shows 
him  how  to  turn  his  possessions,  or  those  of  his  father,  to  better 
economic  account,  —  then  schooling  becomes  a  new  experience 
to  the  boy.  It  becomes  part  of  his  life,  not  something  apart  from 
it.  Traditions  of  success  in  school  become  possible  of  attainment. 
They  become  for  the  majority  inevitable.  Than  this,  project  study 
can,  perhaps,  hope  to  achieve  no  finer  result. 

18.    Project  Study  Perspective 

Looking  back,  now,  over  the  project  and  part-time  plan  of 
vocational  agricultural  education,  as  analyzed  and  expounded  in 
the  report  on  "  Agricultural  Education  "  of  the  Board  of  Educa- 
tion to  the  Massachusetts  Legislature  of  1911,  and  in  the  present 
discussion,  two  facts  should  stand  out  in  clear  relief.  Certain 
kinds  of  projects  are  elective;  others  are  prescribed.  Each  of 
these  two  sorts  of  projects  reveals  the  relative  proportions  and 
importance  of  the  other. 

(1)  "Improvement"  and  "Experimental"  Projects  de- 
sirable. —  The  projects  termed  "  improvement  "  and  "  experi- 
mental "  offer  excellent  incentives  to  project  work  and  to 
project  study. 

The  first  may  contribute  most  towards  the  training  as  a  whole 
by  being  confined  to  projects  which  appeal  to,  and  tend  to  develop, 
the  pupil's  sense  of  attractiveness,  order  and  fitness,  in  farm  home 
appointments  and  surroundings.     These  will  touch  his  pride. 

The  second  may  make  its  best  contribution  by  appealing  to,  and 
nurturing,  the  element  of  daring,  —  the  tendency  of  youth,  even 
at  some  personal  risk,  to  get  out  of  ruts.  Appropriate  projects 
for  the  second  are  to  be  found  by  following  the  best  leadership  in 


29 

animal  and  plant  feeding,  in  plant  and  animal  breeding,  in  selec- 
tion of  plant  and  animal  foundation  stock  in  the  light  of  compara- 
tive records  of  production,  and  the  like.  Such  projects  will 
arouse  his  courage. 

Both  will  have  pronounced  values  as  elements  of  vocational 
agricultural  education,  for  both  will  be  directly  aimed  towards  a 
more  favorable  farm  inventory  and  towards  considerably  in- 
creased farm  profits.  Both,  moreover,  may  be  made  to  con- 
tribute as  much  to  community  as  to  private  betterment  and 
well-being. 

(2)  Productive  Projects  fundamental.  —  First  and  without 
fail,  however,  in  vocational  education  should  come  the  projects 
termed  "  productive." 

The  scale  of  the  improvement  and  experimental  projects  may 
be  modest.  The  scale  of  the  productive  projects  must  be  ex- 
tended, occupy  as  much  as  possible  of  the  time  and  engage  as 
much  as  possible  of  the  energy  of  the  pupil.  Entering  upon  a  pro- 
ductive project  should  be  an  indication  of  the  pupil's  determina- 
tion to  go  just  as  far  as  he  can  in  any  given  year,  not  only  towards 
learning  how  to  become  a  self-respecting  and  self-supporting  pro- 
ducer of  farm  products,  but  also  towards  putting  that  knowledge 
into  practice. 

Vocational  agricultural  education,  in  short,  means,  if  it  means 
anything,  the  constant  inter-working  of  ideas  and  action.  It 
means  the  educational  unity  of  two  practically  simultaneous 
processes,  the  processes  of  earning  and  learning. 

The  logic  of  making  the  productive  projects  fundamental  is  the 
logic  of  life.  First,  man  must  provide  his  subsistence;  next,  a 
surplus  for  barter,  sale  or  other  use.  Then  out  of  his  surplus  he 
may  rightfully  take  risks,  or  make  nonproductive  investments 
of  time  or  capital.  And  this  holds  true  no  matter  how  slight  the 
risk,  nor  how  modest  the  nonproductive  outlay. 

Happily,  projects  primarily  productive,  involving,  as  they  must 
do,  considerations  of  quality  no  less  than  those  of  quantity,  are 
not  without  vital  elements  of  training  in  attractiveness,  order  and 
fitness.  Moreover,  the  boy's  success  in  his  enterprises  aimed  at 
profit  is  more  than  likely  to  be  directly  proportionate  to  his  daring 
enlistment  under  the  leadership  of  the  newer  agriculture.  Pro- 
ductive projects  alone,  therefore,  may  contribute  to  the  education 


30 

of  the  pupil  something  of  those  elements  which  are  the  more 
direct  aims  of  projects  termed  "  experimental  "  and  "  improve- 
ment." 

The  agricultural  instructor,  in  laying  out  or  in  approving  projects 
to  be  undertaken  by  his  pupils,  will,  therefore,  make  no  mistake. 
His  primary  concern  must  be  vocational  agricultural  education 
through  productive  projects.  Productive  projects  may,  in  any 
given  year,  and  at  a  pinch  in  all  years,  be  taught  to  the  exclusion 
of  all  others.  "  Improvement  "  and  "  experimental  "  projects, 
where  found  feasible,  are  desirable.  "  Productive  "  projects  are 
fundamental. 

19.    Suggestions  for  the  Agricultural  Instructor 

(1)  Projects.  —  Suit  the  size  of  the  project  to  the  capacity  of 
the  pupil.     Then  require  good  work. 

A.  Not  too  small.  —  Speed  up  the  boy's  work  by  making  his 
project  big  enough  to  require  attack  and  dispatch  for  its  competent 
execution.  Make  it  so  big  as  to  avoid  all  tendency  toward  habits 
of  dawdling  and  pottering.  Let  it  be  big  enough  to  arouse  his 
enthusiasm  by  making  the  profit  he  may  reasonably  expect  to  get 
appeal  to  him  as  being  a  real  prize.  Make  the  project  big  enough 
so  that  a  competing  job  shall  not  get  the  boy  away  from  school. 
In  short,  let  each  boy's  project  be  such  that  it  shall  serve,  not  an 
avocational,  but  a  vocational  end  of  commanding  importance. 

B.  Not  too  big.  — At  the  same  time  do  not  permit  a  boy  to 
undertake  more  than  he  can  carry  out  in  a  thoroughly  workman- 
like manner.  If  slow  work  is  likely  to  be  finical,  fussy  and  un- 
economic, slovenly  work  is  discreditable.  Good  habits  of  work 
should  be  formed,  and  bad  habits  either  avoided  or  sharply  cor- 
rected. Projects  just  within  the  grasp  of  the  boy  may  be,  and 
should  be  required  to  be,  capably  carried  out. 

(2)  Project  Clothes.  —  Require  that  all  project  work  shall  be 
done  in  working  clothes.  Provide  lockers  for  the  ordinary  school 
clothes  and  shoes,  and  require  a  change  of  dress  when  project  work 
is  to  be  done  on  the  school  premises.  Provide,  also,  conveniences 
for  cleaning  up  after  the  work  is  done. 

This  should  be  looked  upon  as  a  perfectly  reasonable  rule,  the 
nonenforcement  of  which  would  be  absurd  and  must  make  the 
project  work  appear  ridiculous. 


31 

Require,  also,  that  jumpers  and  overalls  shall  be  regularly 
laundered  and  decently  kept. 

(3)  Project  Records.  A.  Work  Records.  —  Require  exact 
records  of  work  done;  also,  of  all  other  items  of  outlay  and  income. 
Require  that  these  records  shall  be  made  on  the  form  furnished  by 
the  Board  of  Education,  and  that  the  daily  detachable  sheet  shall 
be  handed  in  at  the  first  school  session  following  the  day  when  the 
work  is  done,  or  any  other  items  recorded. 

Preserve  these  daily  records  for  such  inspection  as  may  be  made, 
or  for  such  summarized  reports  as  may  be  required,  by  the  agent 
of  the  Board  for  vocational  agricultural  education. 

B.  Study  Records.  —  Require  evidence  of  project  study  in 
note-books  kept  by  the  pupils.  The  form  of  note-book  suggested 
above,  page  14,  has  the  merit  of  keeping  steadily  before  the  eyes 
of  the  pupil  the  kinds  of  project  knowledge  with  which  he  is  dealing 
and  their  relations. 

Another  form  of  note-book  may  be  found  more  useful  to  the 
instructor  and  about  equally  good  for  the  pupil.  This  form,  also, 
is  now  in  successful  use.  The  right-hand  page  in  this  case  is 
reserved  for  materials  found  by  guidance  of  the  second  column  of 
the  project-study  outline.  The  left-hand  page  is  divided  into  two 
about  equal  columns.  Of  these,  the  first  is  used  for  the  working 
rules,  or  plans  and  specifications  of  the  pupil;  the  second,  for  the 
authorities  consulted,  whether  in  print  or  in  person.  When  the 
instructor  desires  to  assign  a  pupil  new  references,  he  finds  it  very 
convenient  to  be  able  to  review  at  a  glance,  in  the  column  specially 
reserved  for  them,  the  authorities  already  consulted. 

The  particular  form  of  note-book,  however,  is  but  a  means.  The 
desired  end  is  clear  evidence  of  sound  thinking.  The  pupil,  in 
some  form  of  note-book,  should  be  required  to  reduce  his  approved 
agricultural  ideas  to  writing,  because  this  will  be  one  of  the  best 
forms  of  evidence  that  his  training  is  placing  such  ideas  at  his 
command. 

The  agent  of  the  Board  will  desire  to  inspect  these  project-study 
records  of  the  agricultural  pupils;  but,  quite  apart  from  their 
value  as  evidence  for  State  aid,  these  records  should  be  kept  with 
such  care  as  to  be  of  permanent  value  to  the  pupils  themselves 
in  their  future  unsupervised  farming  projects. 


32 

C.  Photographic  Records. — Use  a  camera.  Records  by 
photographs  are  convenient.  They  may  be  readily  filed  and 
compared.  For  printed  reports  or  public  exhibitions  they  are 
interesting  evidence  of  work  done;  and  as  evidence  of  equipment, 
methods  and  results,  they  are,  when  taken  by  the  supervising 
instructor,  both  illuminating  and  convincing.  The  eye  of  the 
camera  is  faithful.  Credit  is  given  where  credit  is  due.  The  eye 
of  the  camera  is  also  inexorable,  —  it  neither  condones  nor  for- 
gives. 

Home  surroundings,  for  example,  may  in  one  respect  or  another 
be  bad,  yet  the  instructor's  photograph  may  be  the  first  vivid 
means  of  showing  the  boy  his  home  as  others  see  it  —  his  home  as  it 
is.  On  the  photograph,  or  by  its  aid,  the  boy  may  select  modest 
projects  for  improvement  which  are  to  be  carried  out  within  the 
first  year;  others,  within  the  succeeding  years  of  his  school  course. 
Later  photographs  will  show  that  he  has  done  what  he  planned  to 
do  towards  making  his  home  what,  at  his  hands,  —  considering 
the  boy's  age,  strength  and  resources,  —  his  home  ought  to  be. 

In  many  neighborhoods  the  best  types  of  live  stock,  for  another 
example,  can  only  be  shown  the  pupil  by  aid  of  illustrations  in 
farm  papers  or  in  books.  It  will  add  not  a  little  of  interest  and 
value  to  the  instruction  of  the  pupil  if,  in  addition  to  comparing, 
for  example,  the  boy's  best  cow  with  the  highest  record  queen  of 
her  breed  and  type,  as  shown  in  a  book  or  paper,  a  photograph  of 
his  cow  taken  from  the  same  point  of  view  as  that  of  the  illustra- 
tion be  placed  side  by  side  for  comparison  with  that  of  the  queen. 
The  boy  may  thus  be  made  to  see  the  more  vividly  what  to  work 
towards  in  his  future  buying  or  breeding.  Photographs  of  farm 
products  of  unusual  excellence  may  endure  long  after  the  products 
themselves  have  been  sold  or  consumed,  and  may  afford  the  only 
means  of  comparing  the  form  and  appearance  of  products  one  year 
with  those  of  earlier  or  later  years.  For  educational  purposes 
such  photographs  add  vastly  to  the  value  of  records  dealing  with 
types,  yields  and  comparative  results  in  farm  production. 

The  architect  uses  a  camera  for  record  of  the  ground  on  which, 
and  of  the  surroundings  among  which,  his  proposed  building  is  to 
be  placed.  The  landscape  architect  uses  a  camera  in  order  that 
he  may  the  more  effectively  work  from  existing  grades,  contours 
and  planting  to  the  final  grouping  of  trees  and  shrubs,  contours 


33 

and  grades  which  his  design  will  establish.  Even  in  athletics  the 
were  and  foot-ball  coaches  find  the  camera  a  fault-finder  and  a 
praise-bestower  more  convincing  on  one  hand,  and  more  inspiring 
on  the  other,  than  their  strongest  words.  The  traveler  records 
now  in  photographs  more  often  than  in  journals  the  things  he  has 
seen  and  done.     Camera  records  are  widely  valued. 

If  the  camera  may  be  an  inexorable  revealer  of  agricultural 
faults,  it  is  evident  that  it  may,  also,  be  made  a  faithful  revealer 
of  agricultural  virtues.  In  short,  a  camera,  used  in  connection 
with  each  boy's  instruction  from  the  beginning  to  the  end  of  each 
boy's  course,  must  be  looked  upon  by  the  sympathetic  instructor 
as  one  of  his  most  important  aids,  not  merely  in  faithfully  recording 
the  home  progress  of  his  pupils,  but  also  for  inspiring  and  sustaining 
the  highest  order  of  project  work  and  project  study. 

D.  Certification  Records.  —  Keep  a  record  of  each  pupil, 
showing  your  opinion  as  to  his  capacity  for  planning  farm  work 
and  his  skill  in  farm  operations.  Keep  the  kind  of  record  which 
would  enable  you  to  recommend  a  boy  for  a  particular  job,  if  he 
were  to  leave  school  before  graduation;  or  for  a  more  responsible 
job,  if  he  were  to  complete  the  full  course. 

Make  a  list  of  the  things  the  most  capable  boy  may  be  trained 
to  do  in  matters  of  farm  routine.  Then  test  each  boy  from  time 
to  time,  and  check  to  his  credit  those  items  on  your  list  for  which 
he  shows  you  that  he  should  receive  credit.  Include  such  items 
as  ability  to  harness  a  gentle  horse,  to  harness  a  horse  that  is 
.  notional  if  not  exactly  vicious,  to  harness  a  pair  of  horses  and  for 
various  purposes;  to  plow,  to  cultivate,  to  mow  by  hand  and  by 
machine,  to  milk,  to  cleanse  and  sterilize  utensils,  to  keep  down 
the  numbers  of  bacteria  in  milk  by  care  of  stable,  cov/s  and  his 
own  person  and  clothing;  to  prune  and  to  spray;  to  size,  to  pack, 
to  store  or  to  sell  fruit  and  vegetables.  Include  items  as  to  his 
habits,  such  as  whether  or  not  he  rises  early  without  calling,  or 
promptly  when  called,  is  regular,  punctual  and  reliable  in  doing 
chores,  is  a  willing  worker,  and  the  like. 

Make  your  certification  records  progressive.  Let  them  center 
around  the  groups  of  projects  published  for  given  years,  and 
advance  year  by  year  from  group  to  group.  By  the  end  of  each 
boy's  course  you  will  thus  know  from  your  own  observation  what 
each  pupil  is  capable  of  doing. 


34 

Finally,  as  j^our  knowledge  of  each  boy  grows,  reduce  your 
record  to  writing.  Put  it  in  a  form  which  may  become  part  of  the 
permanent  records  of  your  agricultural  school  or  department. 
Such  a  permanent,  intelligent  and  clear-cut  record  is  due  both 
instructor  and  pupil. 

E.  Project  Bookkeeping.  —  Require  that  an  accurate  ac- 
count shall  be  kept  of  every  item  of  outgo  and  income,  including 
proper  charges  for  the  boy's  own  labor,  in  connection  with  every 
project  undertaken  by  a  pupil  (see  above,  page  19) .  Set  a  proper 
example  by  keeping  a  corresponding  account  of  the  productive 
operations  conducted  by  your  school  or  department. 

Require  entries  to  be  promptly  made,  so  that  at  a  moment's 
notice  a  daily  balance,  a  weekly  balance  or  a  balance  from  the 
beginning  of  any  given  project  may  be  struck.  The  project 
"  Work  Record  "  blanks  before  mentioned  may  be  made  to  serve 
as  a  "  day  book  "  from  which  the  balanced  accounts  may  be  made 
up. 

Check  these  accounts  for  accurate  figuring.  Drill  may  be 
given  by  requiring  each  boy  to  refigure  and  check  up  the  accounts 
of  his  classmates.  Even  the  drill  in  mathematics  will  thus  be 
dealing  with  going  productive  enterprises,  which,  in  the  end, 
must  show  an  even  balance  between  expenditures  and  receipts, 
a  profit  or  a  loss. 

(4)  Project  Outlines.  A.  Ask  Questions. — Support,  guide 
and  check  the  project  work  of  your  pupils  by  appropriate  and 
directly  pertinent  project  study.  In  organizing  your  teaching 
materials,  whether  found  in  books,  in  laboratory  experiments  or 
other  tests,  or  in  things  seen  and  done  outside  the  classroom, 
adopt  the  question  method.  Avoid,  to  the  fullest  extent,  however, 
leading  questions,  questions  which  suggest  an  answer  "  yes  "  or 
"  no."  Ask  questions  which  require  study,  thinking  and  per- 
fectly explicit  written  or  oral  replies.  Ask  questions  to  which 
most  of  the  boys  ought  to  find  answers.  Include  now  and  then 
a  question  for  your  most  capable  pupil.  Begin  with  questions 
vital  to  the  success  of  the  projects  in  hand. 

B.  Cover  the  Needs  of  Every  Boy.  —  By  making  the  outline 
of  questions  full  enough  to  cover  the  project  needs  of  every  boy 
in  the  class,  certain  questions  may  be  marked,  and  others  omitted, 


35 

for  individual  pupils.     A  single  outline  will  thus  serve  the  entire 
class. 

Be  sure  that  each  boy's  project-study  record  is  correct  on  all 
points  necessary  to  the  success  of  his  particular  project.  Your 
questions  will  thus  insure  clear  thinking,  accurate  statement  and 
properly  planned  work. 

C.  Make  Outline  overlap  Outline.  —  Things  frequently 
and  distinctly  recalled  are  best  remembered.  Study  overlapping 
of  reference  materials,  in  your  outline  making,  as  aids  to  thorough 
reviewing  and  to  facility  in  statement.  Answers  composed  with 
much  labor  and  difficulty  at  first  may  thus  finally  be  made  easily 
and  promptly.  Do  not  overlap  your  outlines  too  often,  nor  too 
much. 

D.  Make  Outline  overlap  Text-book.  —  Make  your  out- 
lines not  only  overlap  one  another,  but  also  overlap  the  approved 
text-books  used  for  the  "  Agricultural  Survey  "  instruction.  The 
pupil's  knowledge  will  thus  become  well  knit.  You  can  hardly 
make  your  outlines  and  your  text-books  excessively  overlap. 

E.  Refer  to  Illustrated  Matter.  —  Remember  that  in 
most  cases  your  boys  are  likely  to  be  active  and  practical  in  their 
interests  and  abilities,  rather  than  "bookish."  Therefore,  in  your 
outline  making  refer  wherever  possible  to  pages  which  illustrate 
the  points  of  the  text  by  diagrams  and  photographs.  You  may 
thus  make  assurance  doubly  sure  that  the  pupil  shall  get  the  fact 
or  principle  which  you  send  him  to  get. 

F.  Make  Outlined  Study  lead  to  Un-outlined. — Of 
course,  a  major  aim  must  be  so  to  instruct  a  boy  by  formal  guidance 
that  he  shall,  little  by  little,  come  to  find  himself  at  home  among 
agricultural  books,  bulletins  and  current  literature.  To  be  able 
to  find  one's  own  references  and  information  on  any  given  question 
is  an  important  result  of  good  education. 

In  connection  with  the  study  of  certain  questions,  therefore,  ask 
every  boy,  now  and  then,  to  find  material  by  consulting  the  index 
or  table  of  contents  of  some  book  purposely  omitted  from  the 
project-study  outline.  In  like  manner  require  every  boy  to  con- 
sult the  agricultural  papers  with  particular  reference  to  his  proj- 
ect, as  these  are  received  from  week  to  week. 

Moreover,  require  each  boy  to  begin  the  use  of  a  card  index 


36 

covering  information  of  peculiar  value  and  interest  to  himself; 
and  of  a  system  of  filing,  and  finding  again,  such  notes,  clippings 
and  free  bulletins  as  each  boy  may  be  helped  to  accumulate  for 
his  private  use  and  possession. ^  The  agent  for  agricultural 
education  will  be  glad  to  advise  instructors  as  to  the  uses  of  such 
an  index  and  file. 

Finally,  send  every  boy  home  every  day  with  a  good  agri- 
cultural book,  bulletin  or  report  bearing  on  his  home  project; 
also,  with  a  definite  problem  to  work  out,  or  a  fact  or  principle 
to  find,  which,  if  it  does  not  require  it,  shall  at  least  attract  to  the 
boy's  aid  the  co-operation  of  his  father  or  some  other  member  of 
the  household.  By  this  means  the  boy's  interest  in  his  project 
may  be  greatly  enhanced.  Incidentally  by  this  means,  also,  all 
members  of  the  family  may  become  participants  in  the  educational 
work  of  the  department  or  school.  In  sending  books  home  be 
sure  to  include  those  which  best  illustrate,  with  diagrams  and 
photographs,  the  matters  to  be  studied  and  reported  upon. 

All  this  will  be  effective  training  of  the  power  of  the  pupils  for 
independent  study,  and  for  study  at  home. 

G.  Prepare  Outlines  ahead.  —  Devote  one-fourth  of  the  day 
or  week  in  summer  to  the  preparation  of  outlines  for  use  during  the 
fall  term.  The  period  free  from  teaching  and  supervision  in  winter 
is  extended  to  three  months  for  the  express  purpose  of  promoting 
the  professional  improvement  of  the  agricultural  instructors. 
Two-thirds  of  this  period  is  expected  to  be  devoted  to  this  purpose, 
and,  until  outlines  covering  the  needs  of  a  given  school  or  depart- 
ment have  been  prepared,  the  instructor  is  counselled  to  use  a 
large  part  of  this  time  for  making  or  improving  outlines  for  use 
during  the  spring  term.  Thus  the  labor  of  outline  making  during 
the  actual  teaching  terms  may  be  reduced,  and  time  gained  for 
laboratory  and  shop  preparations. 

(5)  Approval  and  Co-operation.  A.  Submit  Outlines 
for  Approval.  —  The  law  requires  that  State  aid  shall  be  based 
upon  approval  of  methods  of  instruction  by  the  Board  of  Educa- 
tion.    It  is  believed  that  the  most  satisfactory  plan  of  approval 

'  For  the  purpose  of  introducing  an  indexing  and  filing  system  suited  to  farming,  the  Library 
Bureau,  Boston,  has  agreed  to  put  together  and  deliver  at  cost  to  agricultural  pupils  and  instruc- 
tors an  outfit  which  has  been  used  successfully  for  several  years  by  practical  farmers,  and  is  now 
known  by  the  name  "Agricultural  Project  Study  Index  and  File."  The  special  introductory 
price  per  outfit,  delivered  at  the  nearest  express  office,  is  $1.95.  Check  or  post  office  money  order 
must  be  sent  with  the  order. 


o  n 

o7 

is  that  of  "  approval  in  advance."  You  are  requested,  therefore, 
to  submit  your  project-study  outHnes  for  approval  as  soon  as  they 
are  drawn. 

Outlines  like  those  suggested  in  Bulletin  No.  5,  1912,  above 
referred  to,  will  be  approved.  Provisional  drafts  may  be  made 
in  duplicate  by  use  of  carbon  paper,  or  any  other  distinct  duplicat- 
ing device.  As  soon  as  made,  a  copy  should  be  mailed  to  the 
agent  of  the  Board  of  Education  in  charge  of  this  training.  Pro- 
vided the  outline  is  like  those  above  suggested,  instruction  may 
then  proceed  in  accordance  therewith,  pending  receipt  of  advice 
to  the  contrary. 

B.  Be  prepared  to  meet  Other  Instructors  from  time  to 
time.  Conferences  will  be  called,  now  at  one  school  or  department, 
and  again  at  another,  where  efficient  project  methods  are  in  opera- 
tion. By  observation  and  discussion  each  may  profit  from  the 
experience  of  others;  and  thus  the  entire  service  may  from  year 
to  year  be  improved.  Therefore  be  prepared  to  discuss  and  to 
demonstrate  your  best  methods  and  results  for  the  benefit  of 
other  instructors  when  called  upon  to  do  so. 

C.  Co-operate  in  Outline  Printing.  —  Considerable  varia- 
tion in  the  excellence  of  outlines  is  to  be  expected.  The  enthusiast 
for  poultry  keeping  may  be  expected  to  produce  the  best  study 
outlines  for  project  work  in  this  field;  the  enthusiast  for  dairying, 
the  best  outhnes  for  dairying;  the  enthusiast  for  fruit  growing  or 
vegetable  growing,  the  best  outlines  for  study  in  these  fields; 
and  so  on  through  the  several  fields  scheduled  for  agricultural 
project  training. 

The  Board  of  Education  will,  from  time  to  time,  print  outlines 
prepared  by  individual  instructors,  or  will  combine  outlines 
prepared  by  more  than  one  instructor  in  a  given  field  and  print 
them.  Due  credit  for  such  outlines  as  may  be  found  of  sufficient 
merit  for  this  purpose  will  be  given  their  authors.  The  best  out- 
lines, produced  anywhere  in  the  service,  may  thus  be  made  avail- 
able for  the  improvement  of  the  service  everywhere.  The  hearty 
co-operation  in  outline  making  of  all  participants  in  this  new  type 
of  teaching  will  be  for  the  individual  benefit  of  every  man  engaged 
in  it;  and,  without  any  misgivings  as  to  the  willingness  of  any 
instructor  to  do  his  part,  such  co-operative  effort  is,  therefore, 
most  strongly  urged. 


38 

As  a  direct  aid  to  harmony  of  action  and  rapid  progress,  an 
"  Agricultural  Project  Study  Bibliography  "  is  being  printed  as 
Bulletin  No.  6,  1912,  by  the  Board  of  Education.  It  is  prefaced 
by  explanations  and  directions  as  to  its  use.  By  adopting  uni- 
formly in  all  the  schools  and  departments  the  numbers  for  refer- 
ence materials  therein  assigned,  outlines  may  be  prepared  with 
the  minimum  of  labor;  and,  when  printed,  will  be  interchangeable 
and  may  be  used  in  common.  Then,  as  before  suggested,  in  order 
to  adapt  an  outline  perfectly  to  the  needs  of  a  given  pupil,  it  will 
only  be  necessary  for  the  instructor  to  mark  on  that  pupil's  copy 
the  references  best  suited  to  his  particular  productive  farm  en- 
terprise. 

20.     Conclusion 

The  suggestions  to  the  agricultural  instructor  just  given  may, 
at  first  sight,  appear  to  be  counsels  of  perfection,  difficult,  if  not 
impossible,  of  execution  at  the  very  outset  of  this  new  undertaking 
in  State-aided  vocational  agricultural  education. 

Nevertheless,  in  view  of  the  foregoing  discussion,  they  are 
believed  to  show  the  precise  direction  to  which  the  development 
of  this  training  should  be  kept.  Furthermore,  and  finally,  by 
aid  of  the  methods  of  class  organization  and  individual  instruction 
heretofore  proposed,  it  is  believed  that  the  earnest  and  diligent 
agricultural  instructor  will,  sooner  than  he  may  now  expect,  find 
himself  capable  of  carrying  out  these  suggestions  exactly  and  in 
full. 


V 


